Free Republic

Perhaps it was just a little “Pillow Talk” with his Iranian wife!  Who is Dr. Mohamed El Baradei? A quick Google search yields the following general biographical information:Dr. ElBaradei is the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], an inter-governmental organization based in Vienna, and formed under the auspices of the United Nations in 1957. He was appointed to the office effective Dec. 1 1997, and re-appointed to a second term in Sept. 2001. El Baradi was born in Egypt in 1942. He gained a Bachelor’s degree in Law in 1962 at the University of Cairo, and a...

Israel Defense Forces on Sunday released footage showing Hamas terrorists operating freely, and even shooting at Palestinian civilians, inside the central logistics complex of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip. The footage captured on Saturday by an IDF drone shows several armed Hamas terrorists in the area of the UNRWA warehouse compound. At first, they are shown next to two white vehicles clearly marked “UN.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) shared drone footage Tuesday of terrorists in a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) compound in Rafah, near several United Nations (UN) vehicles, including gunfire by the terrorists.Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, said that the UN was working with the terrorists, and called on UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini to resign (as Katz has done in the past).The IDF released a statement:During IDF operational activity in eastern Rafah on Saturday, terrorists were identified in UNRWA's central logistics compound alongside UN vehicles.In the footage, a number of terrorists and gunfire can be seen near UN vehicles...

“When our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, Jihad becomes a duty binding on all Muslims. In order to face the usurping of Palestine by the Jews, we have no escape from raising the banner of Jihad.”Have you ever read the Hamas charter?It’s worth taking a break from the unrelenting, tragic news to better understand the founding document of the group whose attack plunged Israelis and Palestinians into their current hell. Founding documents are aspirational. It took well over 100 years for the United States to begin to live up to “All men are created equal.” And Israel, even within its...

You may be surprised, but Hamas does not call for only killing Jews and eliminating Israel. If you are Christian, a member of another religion or even participate in your local Rotary club or the Lions, Hamas also considers you an enemy, too.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday invoked Article 99 of the UN charter for the first time, citing a “severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” as the war rages on between Israel and militant group Hamas. In a letter to José Javier De la Gasca Lopez Domínguez, the current UN Security Council President, Gutteres said he expects “public order to completely break down due to desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible.”

The U.S. has promised to vote against any resolution that would seek to grant the Palestinians full membership in the United Nations after a General Assembly resolution passed with significant support from member states. "Our vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood," U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood said after the vote. "We have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully: Instead, it is an acknowledgment that statehood will only come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties." "This resolution does not resolve the concerns about the Palestinian...

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.” “Shame on you,” Erdan said The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member — a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state — after the United States vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month. The assembly adopted a resolution with 143 votes in favor and nine against...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Tuesday that it had killed 15 terrorists, at least 10 of whom were from Hamas, in a strike on a “war room” that they had set up at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school. In a joint statement, the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA, or “Shabak,” or “Shin Bet”) said: Based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF carried out a precise strike on a central Hamas war room commanders embedded inside an UNRWA school in the area of Nuseirat. The war room was used by terrorist operatives in...

The United Nations seemingly halved the estimated number of women and children killed in Gaza, according to UN data published on May 6 and 8. The UN published the number of fatalities reported by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. The Government Media Office in Gaza and Israeli authorities provided a disclaimer below the data: "The UN has so far not been able to produce independent, comprehensive, and verified casualty figures." On May 6, the UN published data showing that 34,735 people had reportedly been killed in Gaza, including over 9,500 women and over 14,500 children. On May 8, the...

On May 16 the world will mark the UN International Day of Living Together in Peace. It is a rallying call for people to listen respectfully to others and promote tolerance and understanding. Perhaps someone should tell tech entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. The online platforms they head up – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X – have become synonymous with fake news, hate speech, misinformation and other online harms. Social media has been widely blamed for destabilising democracies and fomenting civil unrest in Europe and North America. In July 2023, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, proposed restricting access to online platforms...

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that Israel end its military operation in Rafah, less than a day after the IDF launched an operation to destroy the final four Hamas battalions in Gaza. "I am disturbed & distressed by the renewed military activity in Rafah by the Israeli Defence Forces," Guterres wrote on X today (Tuesday). "I urge the Government of Israel to stop any escalation, and engage constructively in the ongoing diplomatic talks." .....

Contentious legislation passing the British Parliament late tonight that will give the government the ability to send asylum-seekers arriving in the UK to Rwanda... In Ukraine late tonight explosions reported in Odessa...early Tuesday morning...explosions reported in Kiev... An investigation led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna finding no links between the United Nations World Relief Agency and terrorist groups... The Russian military in Syria noting 14 violations of Syrian airspace by US-led coalition warplanes... 35 rockets fired into northern Israel as Passover began this evening... The trial of President Donald Trump in New York heard its first testimony today......

Sen. John Fetterman reiterated his criticisms of activists calling for cease-fire in Gaza, and slammed fellow Democrats for their “crazy” response to the attacks Iran has launched against Israel, in an interview with Fox Digital. “It is not appropriate or legal or helpful to advance your argument if you show up in a Starbucks with a bullhorn and start yelling at people,” he told Fox News Digital in a Friday interview. He also claimed such protests don’t “make you noble.” “It just makes you an (–*&*(,” Fetterman (D-Pa.) said. Since the onset of the war between Israel and terrorist group...

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has declared reparations are due now to compensate for the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a way to tackle “its legacy” in today’s society, including “systemic racism and white supremacy.” In a statement to mark the U.N. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery, Guterres said the past “laid the foundations for a violent discrimination system based on white supremacy.” “We call for reparatory justice frameworks to help overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination,” Guterres said.

On Monday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said that the White House doesn’t understand why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned Israeli delegation to the U.S. over the U.S. abstaining from a vote on a U.N. ceasefire resolution because the resolution is “a non-binding resolution that has absolutely no effect on Israel’s ability to defend itself.” And is consistent with U.S. policy of wanting a ceasefire in conjunction with the release of hostages. Kirby said, [relevant remarks begin around 3:35] “We’re perplexed by this decision. Because, first of all,...

On Monday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby acknowledged that the United Nations ceasefire resolution that the United States abstained from the vote on and did not veto “did not condemn Hamas” and that condemning Hamas is “important” if the U.N. wants to stand for what’s right. But stated that because the resolution “reflected, broadly, our policy, which has not changed, about linking the hostage release to a ceasefire, we abstained rather than [veto] it.” Kirby stated that [relevant remarks begin around 3:35] “the language in this resolution is very much consistent...

The Biden administration is perplexed by what it views as a major overreaction by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a planned Israeli delegation to Washington in response to the US allowing a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and hostage release to be adopted, according to a US official. Briefing a small group of reporters, the official speculates that the move by Netanyahu had more to do with Israeli domestic politics. US President Joe Biden has no plans to call Netanyahu about the cancellation nor did Netanyahu call Biden about it in advance, the official adds.

American officials have repeatedly said they are worried about Israel's plans to launch a major ground offensive in Rafah, where about half of Gaza's 2.3 million population has found refuge. The UN Security Council voted Monday morning on a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the month of Ramadan, as well as the immediate release of all hostages. With Ramadan ending next month, it means the ceasefire would last for just two weeks. 'If the US does not veto a resolution for a cease-fire that is not conditional on the release of hostages - I will cancel the...

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution Monday calling for an “immediate cease-fire” in Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The resolution passed the Security Council 14-0, with the US abstaining and declining to exercise its veto power. The measure calls for a pause in the fighting to last through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends April 9, as well as the unconditional release of hostages taken in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had demanded the US veto the cease-fire resolution, threatening to cancel plans to...